[Smarty-pants]

  I just bought a silver 105D direct from Oppo for $1039, with 2-year warranty and 2-day shipping!  I plan to use my Yamaha RX-A3010 as the headphone amp via RCA-analog connection, using 105D as a DAC only.  Maybe I'll compare the 2 head-amps later on.  
 
Questions: (1) Does the 105D stream/decode DSD via USB or HDMI-in?  
                  (2) What am I giving up by using a flagship AVR's headphone-out instead of a standalone head-amp from Pathos or Antelope?

 
1) I am not 100% sure about HDMI (in), I would have to double check that (for DSD), but I know that USB (in) will definitely decode DSD audio.
 
2) You aren't really giving up anything if you like the sound that the Oppo's amp provides.
If you have headphones that a exceptionally difficult to drive, then the Oppo's amp may not be quite powerful enough,
but it is adequate for most headphones. I would advise simply trying the Oppo's amp and see how you like it,
and if you want to try something else then that's up to you.

I actually have a 105 in my office that I use for headphone listening and I like it very much.
I even had the Oppo HA-1 amp for a while and it is a stellar piece of kit for sure, to me it didn't sound that much better
than the 105 which just made it way overkill for me.
The HA-1 is definitely better, but since the 105 meets my needs right now and in the not so distant future,
I am content with what it does for me. To each their own...

 

[Dragoon47]

I have tried to connect the balanced out with XLR leads from the Oppo 105D to my Liquid Gold balanced in with no sound at all.

 

Yet when I connect via the Stereo out bingo I get sound? I have searched through the set menu on the 105d and still cannot make it work?

 

Am I making a silly mistake or would anyone have a tip for me please? Thank you

 

[Smarty-pants]

  I have tried to connect the balanced out with XLR leads from the Oppo 105D to my Liquid Gold balanced in with no sound at all.

 

Yet when I connect via the Stereo out bingo I get sound? I have searched through the set menu on the 105d and still cannot make it work?

 

Am I making a silly mistake or would anyone have a tip for me please? Thank you

The audio outputs of the Oppo players are all active 24/7, so this shouldn't be an issue with the player
(Unless perhaps there is something defective with your particular player,
but very doubtful especially if the RCA stereo out seems to be working well.)
You should get sound with the XLR output just the same as you would with the RCA output.

I would check your cabling or the Liquid Gold for where the problem lies.

 

[Dragoon47]

Thank you very much and both are brand new with less than two hours on them, will investigate further, really appreciated, cheers

 

[Spaceresearcher]

I've been curious as to how much the sound differs between the Oppo BDP103AU and the Oppo BDP105D differs in terms of Hi-Fi.
 
Already owning a nice Panasonic Blu-Ray player, what I'm interested in the Oppo for is a superior DSD and HiFi audio experience.  The extra features are simply a bonus.
 
In that light, from what I'm reading both the BDP103 and the BDP105 feature the exact same audio performance with the exception that the BDP105 features a 32bit DAC for 7.1 Surround processing.  The standard 2 channel is still 24bit 192KHz correct?
 
So if I was to purchase a really nice audio player, either would do the same job except the BDP105 also gives me an audiophile headphone amplifier whereas the BDP103 is a player without headphone out. 
 
For the price I'm leaning towards the BDP103 and a Pro-Ject Audio Systems Head Box DS.  I don't own enough 7.1 Channel audio tracks to justify the extra outlay.
 
Anyone care to correct or comment?
 
Thanks fellow Audio fans.